Future for women in sports journalism

Still, female sports journalists are breaking the glass ceiling, with numbers increasing steadily since 2018. More women are finding roles as sportswriters, in broadcasting booths, leadership positions, and more. 

“I feel like it’s getting better for women,” Burke said. “I don’t look around a [media] room anymore and see that I’m the only one which is great.”

While the industry seems more tolerant, the journey to get there is still much more difficult than their male counterparts. In response, women have created a network in sports journalism to share stories, provide advice, learn from and help each other. 

“There’s a cohort of women on the job, and I’ve discovered every single woman that I’ve met along my path has been supportive and helpful,” Burke said.

In 1987, the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) was founded to provide a network of support and an advocacy group for women in sports media. AWSM also offers a platform with scholarship and internship opportunities for students like Roth, who want to pursue a career in sports journalism. 

Roth is an aspiring sports broadcaster who looks up to the talented women on the air today. 

“Molly Qerim, the host of ‘First Take‘ on ESPN, inspires me because she is a strong woman who is never afraid to fight other big personalities on the show to prove her point,” Roth said. 

Qerim is an Emmy award-winning broadcaster and one of the few female hosts on ESPN. She’s shown her audiences and the world that women can excel as sports journalists even on platforms dominated by men. 

The future is bright for the next generation of women in sports journalism, and they have grown up watching remarkable, trailblazing journalists that have shown them the way.

“If we look at where women are today, we see a lot more of them in broadcasting than certainly in my day,” Ludtke said. “Now we see women off of the sidelines and going into the broadcast booths. That’s a big change.”